Towel bar



May 5, 1953 w. I SPANGLER TOWEL BAR Filed Feb. 28, 1950 INVENTOR. u rf@ Z `S10/w61 E@ y BY v fi'E/YEY- Patented May 5, 1953 Walter. L.. Spangler, Kokomo., Ind.,` assigner tot Bf-W Manufacturers, Inc.,vl Kokomo, Ind., ay corporation of Indiana Applicati'on February 28, 1956;, Serial Norlfliil (CLl zirwse):

5 Claims.

l't is anobject of thisl invention to produce: a. towel bar or rack adapted' for attachment toa 'face of a door and capable of supporting towels, light articles of clothing, etc. Another object of theA invention is to provide a towel bar which can be removably applied to a door without damaging. the latten. which. will not interfere with ordinary opening and closing of the door, and which will be applicable' read-ily to doors of different Widths. A further object of the invention is to produce a light-weight towel bar which can be simply and economically manufactured `and which will possess an attractive appearance.

In carrying out the invention, I employ a pair of. brackets, conveniently formed of sheet metal.

theE supports are serewfthreaded and adapted to be received in the ends of a helical tension spring. With the brackets in place embracing opposite edges of the door, the spring will be stressed and will exert on each bracket an inwardly directed effort suilicient to hold the bracket in position. Extensibility of the spring permits application of the device to doors of varying widths.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention: Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating a towel 'bar in position on a door; Fig. 2 is an elevational view illustrating one end of the towel bar; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmental detail view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the spring broken away; and Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. l, it will be apparent that the device consists essentially of a pair of brackets I0, adapted to embrace opposite side edges of a door Il, and a tension spring I2, which extends horizontally between such brackets, draws them toward each other, and seats them against the sides of the door.

Each bracket I0 is conveniently formed of a sheet-metal strip bent to provide a front I5 adapted to lie against one face of the door, a flange I6 adapted to lie against one side of the door, and one or more ears Il adapted to engage the opposite face of the door. The front l5 and the ears I1 are parallel to each other and are 1 spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the standard interior door. To stiffen the front I5, it may be formed with a pair of spaced stiffening beads or ribs I8.

Secured to each bracket l0 is a support 2t T2 lto which the adiacenti vend of; the springt l2 is attached.. Conveniently, the, attachment ci the support 2t to the. bracketA i0 effected in. the manner illustrated in, Fig.. 3.,. a portion 2l ot the frontl5. defi-ned. by two spaced vertical strips being offset.v forwardly to provide. a socket and the. support 2b being formed ot strip7 stock bent intor a. U-shape and having, one leg 22. receiyed in thesocket. 2 l.. To. anchor .thev support. in piace, the assembly maybe subjected to a press. opera.- tiorr which forms a transverse. groove 26 in. the leg.y 22 forces par-t of the metal of the socket 2lrnto suchgrooye, as indicated at23 Gonveniently, the support 2li is= formed of semicircular stock and bent with itsn flatl face on the outside or the bend, so that such flat` face.. seated. against, the outer surface of the bracketfront I5 beyond the limits of the socket 2l., will preventy the. supportiroxn-4 rotating in the socket.

. end. of the other leg 214 ofthesupport .20

may be adapted for attachment to the spring l2 by forming in its opposite edges series of oppositely oblique grooves 25 constituting in effect a male thread adapted to be threadedly received in the adjacent end of the spring l2. Desirably, such grooves are formed by a pressing operation in which the extreme end of the leg 24 is tapered to a width such that it can enter the spring l2. The width of the stock from which the support 20 is formed is greater than the internal diameter of the spring l2, as will be clearly evident from Fig. 4; and as the spring-end is screwed on the end of the leg 24 with the aid of the grooves 25, the turns of the spring will be forcibly expanded and caused to grip the end of the leg 24 tightly. A characteristic of this type of connection is that the torque applied to the spring body in screwing it on the leg-end is in the direction which tends to unwind the spring, expand its turns, and reduce the force with which they grip the leg-end. If an attempt is madey to remove the spring by applying reverse torque to its body, such reverse torque tends to contract the spring to cause its end turns to grip the legend securely and oppose such unwinding.

The bracket and support construction described lends itself to formation of aluminum, and hence the brackets and supports may be made relatively light in weight. The spring l2 is made of a length such that it will be subjected to substantial tension when applied to even relatively narrow doors; and as a result of the tension in the spring, it will not undergo objectionable vertical displacement under any'loads to which it will be ordinarily subjected in use. Clearance lie against the face of the door, a portion of said.

bracket-front intermediate the height thereof being oset forwardly to provide an open-ended horizontally extending socket, a separate U-A shaped support formed of strip stock associated with each bracket and having horizontal legs one of which is received and secured in the socket, and a helical tension spring, the other leg of each support being provided with a conical, male screw thread and being screw-threadedly received in the adjacent end of said spring.

2. In a device of the type described, a pair of brackets adapted to embrace the opposite vertical sides of a door, each of said brackets being Iformed of sheet-metal and including a front 'adapted to lie against the f-ace of the door, a portion of said bracket-front intermediate the height thereof being offset forwardly to provide an open- `ended horizontally extending socket, a separate U-shaped support associated with each bracket and Shaving horizontal legs one of which is reyceived and secured in the socket, the support-leg received in said socket having a flat side which engages the front of the bracket beyond at least 'one end of the socket, and `a helical tension spring, the other leg of each support being pro- 'vidediwitlfi screw threads co-operating with the 'turns of the spring to secure the support and spring together.

3. In a device of the type described, a pair of brackets adapted to embrace the oppositevertical sides of `a door, each of said brackets being formed of sheet-metal and including a front adapted to lie against the face of the door, a portion of said bracket-front spaced outwardly from the inner end thereof being offset forwardly to provide an open-ended horizontally extending socket, a separate U-shaped support associated with each bracket and having horizontal legs one of which is received and secured in the socket and projects inwardly therebeyond over and in contact with the bracket-front, and a helical tension spring having its ends secured respectively to the other legs of the two supports.

4. The invention set forth in claim 3 with the addition that each support is formed of bent stock of substantially semicircular cross-section the fiat face of which engages the bracket-front and prevents rotation of the support in the bracket.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4 with the addition that the ends of said other support legs lare tapered and provided at their edges only with screw-threads screw-threadedly engaging end turns of said spring.

WAL'I'ER L. SPAN GLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 871,703 Keith Nov. 19, 1907 976,625 Benoit Nov. 22, 1910 1,063,800 Hughes June 3, 1913 1,150,274 Lathrop Aug. 17, 1915 1,214,995 Boye Feb. 6, 1917 1,259,922 Starr Mar. 19, 1918 1,315,707 Carlson Sept. 9, 1919 l 2,082,301 Pearson June 1, 1937 2,098,721 Demarest Nov. 9, 1937 Herbst Mar. 4, 1952 

